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By Lloyd Albritton

Columnist

To coin a phrase often used by the late Alabama author and motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar, “The input determines the output!”  Zig was, of course, employing a commonplace computer analogy.

In my column last week I wrote about the special feeling I got from riding my horse years ago. I told you about the custom handmade balanced-ride western saddle I purchased on a strained family budget, a purchase which met all my expectations and gave me many special horseback riding experiences which still conjure up pleasant thoughts these many years later.

I read and studied about that saddle design for almost two years before deciding to buy it. I understood the reasoning and functioning of every strap, buckle and feature on it. I understood why it felt so stable and balanced underneath me. I studied horse conformation during those years as well and I learned how a horse’s conformation effects the way he or she moves and what kind of horse would give me the ride I wanted. I will not say that I ever owned “the perfect horse,” but I got as close as I could afford to.

I experienced many horseback rides that not only gave me great joy and pleasure, but left me with many great memories.  These horseback rides were made all the more special by the fact that I had prepared myself for them by the learning and study of correct fundamental principles of riding and horsemanship.

My zealous study of horseflesh and saddlery notwithstanding, my most important area of learning was my own riding skills. Over my years of riding horses since my boyhood days, I had developed practices and habits which were antithetical to good horsemanship.  I discovered that I had been doing a lot of things wrong and blaming the poor results on my horse or my saddle. The fact is, between the bad horses and the bad saddles I had been riding and my own ignorance and deficiency in riding skills, I had experienced a lot of horseback rides that I did not enjoy so much. It was only when I put forth the effort to learn and understand correct riding principles and the determination to implement those changes that I came to fully enjoy the experience of horseback riding.

I recently expressed my feelings on this subject to my son, who is now 53 years old and who actually rode that very saddle many times as a teenager back in the 1980s. “I completely understand,” he replied with a chuckle. “That was a great saddle.”

After a brief pause, my son began to muse, “I feel exactly the same way about my old pickup truck, a 2006 Silverado Classic.  Considering the cost of new trucks, when my truck started to have wear-and-tear problems, I decided to rebuild the engine myself instead of buying a new one. I disassembled everything and replaced all the old, worn parts with new parts. It was a challenging project, but I finally got it done.

Nowadays, when I drive my old truck I know where every noise, every squeak, chirp and grunt is coming from. I have had my hands on every part of this old truck and I know it like the back of my hand. I am comfortable with it. I understand it.  I love it!”

Following my telephone conversation with my son, I sat down in my favorite reading chair later in the evening and opened my scriptures to read a few pages before bedtime. There was not much there that I had not read before, as evidenced by the numerous redlined passages and margin notes on every page.  As expressed by the character Carl Childers in the movie Sling Blade, “There is a great deal there that I do not understand; but then again, there is a great deal that I do understand.” Over the years, as I have read and reread these passages, my knowledge and understanding has increased, a little here and a little there, day by day, until I now feel comfortable with my understanding of it and inspired by its counsel to live a more virtuous life. In addition to learning and understanding a better way to live, I have struggled to conform my behavior to the specifications found there and I believe my life has been made better for the effort. In any event, I feel comforted and comfortable when I hold these divine, ancient writings in my hands and ponder their meaning. I feel like I am in the right place, as if I am riding down the trail on my old saddle.

Recently I heard podcast host, a declared athiest, ask his special guest, a religious man, for his opinion on the relevance of God and religion in society. The guest smiled and asked, “Do you pray?”

The host quickly replied, “I meditate.”

“Well, you are already there,” rejoined the guest.  “Why don’t you just go ahead and pray?”

“Because I am an athiest,” repeated the host.  “I don’t believe there is a God to hear me.”

“Have you ever tried?” asked the guest.

This time the highly intelligent host sat expressionless for a lengthy pause, pondering the question honestly.  “No,” he said, “I haven’t.  I’d like to.  Sometimes I want to.  But I know that no one is there to hear me, so I don’t.  I won’t.”

So near, yet so far away!

When Zig Ziglar quoted the phrase, “The input determines the output,” I don’t think he was just talking about computers. I think he was talking about good saddles and old trucks and praying saints and divine writings and everything in the universe. Those who believe that understanding and gifts of great worth will come to them without effort are most often disappointed. Whilst God does indeed bestow divine gifts upon certain individuals from time to time absent of any effort or desire on the individual’s part, these manifestations are most often for his own purposes and are only temporary. If we desire the special gifts of God in our lives to be permanent and transforming, we have to put in the work. Truly, the input determines the output.